Airship motor car



Patented Sept. l5, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEOPOLD MERZ, OF `FRIE-DRICHSHAJFEN, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO THE FTB-M: LUFT- SCHIFFBAU ZEPPELIN GESELLSCHAFT MIT BESCHRANKTER HAFTUNG, OF FRIED- BI'CHSHAFEN, GERMANY.

AIRSHIP MOTOR CAR.

Application led October 26, 1921. Serial No. 510,433.

To all 'whom t may conocwi:

Be it known that I, LEOPOLD MER/z, a German citizen, residing at Friedrichshafen a. B., Germany, have invented certain new `and useful Improvements in Airship Motor Cars, of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates to airship motor gondolas and more particularly to the manner in which such gondolas are suspended from the airship.

As is well known it is desirable to reduce the air resistance of air-ships as much as possible. The motor gondolas of airships and the parts for suspending them offer a very high resistance to the air. The gon dolas and their suspensions being already shaped so as to reduce air resistance to a minimum, the only expedient for still. further reducing air resistance is to reduce the dimensions of the gondola and the parts used for suspending it.

In contradistinction to the practice heretofore exclusively followed this may be effected by designing the gondola as a mere shell around the engine, that is, without leaving space for the attendants, the control of the motor being effected from a central stand, as in large aeroplanes. As, however, in an airship, it is necessary to provide for repairs of the motor, the gondola according` to my invention is suspended from the body of the airship in such a manner that it can be drawn toward and into the body. Drawing the car into the body altogether involves the further advantage that the air resistance of the gondola is nil when the motor engine is not running. Repairs can be el-y fected more easily when the gondola is in the body of the airship as there is more room available than in the motor gondolas provided with a space for the attendants,

and the engine is accessible on all sides after the shell has been removed.

In the drawings affixed to this specifica tion and forming part thereof, part orp an airship embodying my invention is illustrated diagrammatically by way of example.

The motor gondola a is suspended from the body b of the airship by cable.; c and held in position by a strutI Z hinged to and adapted to be disconnected 'from the airship body at e. which runs over a pulley g to a winch 71., the gondola a can be drawn into the body of the airship, as illustrated in dotted lines.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, `for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. An airship comprising in combination, a hull or body, a motor plant disposed laterally of said body, means for holding said plant non-rigidly suspended from said hull,

or body and means for pullingsaid plant` in a plane substantially at right angles to the motor axis into a cavity of said hull or body substantially in upright position.

2. An airship comprising in combination, a hull or body, a motor plant disposed laterally of said body, a streamlined shell sui'- rounding said plant, means for holding said plant non-rigidly suspended from saidrhull or body, comprising a suspension cable attached to the top ofsaid shell and a strut pivoted to said shell and to said hull, respectively, and capable of being disengaged from said hull and means attached to the top of said shell for `pulling said shell and plant into a cavity of said hull.

In testimony whereoin I atlix my signature.

LEOPOLD MERZ.

By means of a cable 

